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In late 1800s Chicago, two men set the city on its ear: Daniel Burnham, architect and planner, and HH Holmes, the first American serial killer. Burnham was responsible for orchestrating the Chicago World’s Fair; Holmes built what was billed as “The World’s Fair Hotel”. Holmes’ hotel was anything but. Described…

Listener Lalith asks: “What is the significance of mutilation pre and post death? Why do some killers mutilate the face while others only the genitalia?” She actually asked this question intending it to be part of last week’s Questions and Answers episode, but I thought it was meaty enough for…

In this week’s episode, we look at what causes someone to become a serial killer. We’ll be mostly discussing psychopathic sexual murder, rather than psychotic murder. Psychopathy, also known as sociopathy or antisocial personality disorder, is a behavioral disorder characterized by an abnormal lack of empathy combined with abnormal immoral…

Ronald M. Holmes and James Deburger developed a system for categorizing serial murderers in 1998. Stephan T. Holmes joined them in developing later versions. The system is now referred to as the Holmes Typology. It was based upon the analysis of case material and interviews from 110 serial murders. Their…

The organized/disorganized dichotomy was developed by agents of the FBI training academy at Quantico. The typology is a system of crime scene analysis that attempts to predict an unsub’s characteristics based upon the specifics of the crime. It is based upon a series of interviews with 36 incarcerated offenders, 25…

Dr. Henry Howard Holmes built a hotel in Chicago for the 1893 World’s Fair. Unbeknownst to the public, the hotel was actually a house of horrors, with secret torture chambers. Holmes eventually confessed to 27 murders and had 9 confirmed. Many suspect his true body county was much higher. You…

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way and Double Features have purchased the right to the film adaption of the best selling book on H. H. Holmes, “Devil in the White City”. DiCaprio is expected to take on the role of Holmes.

The Alchemist Theatre, a production company in Milwaukee, WI, is putting on Murder Castle: The Chronicle of H.H.Holmes just in time for Halloween. Holmes was a con-artist and serial killer that is most famous for building a hotel in Chicago for the Chicago World Fair. The hotel was a maze…